Bloomberg:
BP Plc, Europe’s second-largest oil company, will shut its solar power unit and quit the business entirely after 40 years because it’s become unprofitable.
The company will wind down the unit, BP Solar, over several months, Mike Petrucci, the unit’s chief executive officer, told staff in an internal letter last week. About 100 employees will be affected.
BP Solar is withdrawing from an industry that’s facing oversupply and price pressures after Asian competitors increased production. Panel prices plunged 48 percent this year, helping tip three U.S. makers including Solyndra LLC into bankruptcy, and Solon SE (SOO1), Germany’s first listed solar company, filed for insolvency last week.
“The continuing global economic challenges have significantly impacted the solar industry, making it difficult to sustain long-term returns for the company,” Petrucci said in the letter.
The rest here.
Well heck, if prices keep coming down, maybe panels will actually make economic sense some day.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAssuming you always have to back up solar with almost 100% conventional, I'm not sure how any price above zero can have solar panels make economic sense. I'm not an expert on the structure of the grid; perhaps there's a place for generation that will fluctuate with passing clouds that does not require 100% conventional back up - but it seems unlikely to be any significant amount of the load.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSo what becomes of the sunny Greenist logo? External Link
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe word global has become an unwelcome word to millions of americans.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNo matter how much positive spin people try to put on green technology, solar and wind power will always be failures because they are simply not viable.
How much did BP lose in relation to its solar business? Shareholders must be weeping!
There is still only one form of green energy that is viable, highly profitable and cheap to generate electricity... hydro electric power. Yet environmentalists want to ban this.
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